Category: Jobs and Employment
Please, no sarcastic posts here. This is a serious question about work.
I'm thinking of becoming a sitter for the elderly. Basically, I would sit and talk with them, play board/card games, do crafts, read the newspaper to them (if there was an internet connection in the house or area) or see if I can scan materials for them, remind them to take their medications, etc. I could also prepare light meals, such as hot/cold cereals,, soups, sandwiches, microwaveable meals, and various hot and cold beverages. I could also provide braille instruction, and give the family advice on support groups, and certain low-cost adaptive tech, should their loved one be going blind. I would stress that I am not a certified health care aid, so cannot administer medicine, give cpr etc.
Has anyone done this? If so, what is it like? Did you have problems getting hired as a blind person? I'd actually like to use my blindness as an advantage, since I know what it's like to be lonely and about the need for independence. On average, what were you paid? I'm in New Jersey, if that helps. I'm thinking $10 an hour. I would start off by using Access Link (NJ Paratransit) for extremely local areas, and then see about taking more reliable transportation to places a bit farther away.
Since I mentioned braille instruction, what is the market like for braille tutors for not only the elderly, but the blind who are not working or receiving aid from the state, and family and friends of the blind who may wish to learn braille? I figured I could try filling in that niche, since I don't know of anyone who serves them, other than independent living centres, which are expensive and which usually require a recommendation of a state agency. As it is, I will be teaching a sighted friend of mine braille over the phone, with both of us using the same books. He's out of state, so we can't meet in person. Still, I think it will give me a good idea of how to structure things and what materials can be used to supplement the text. I have already written up an ad for being a sitter but not for the tutoring on its' own.
I have never done anything of the sort, so I can't really give any advice, but you seem pretty well put together and know what your doing. I wish you the best of luck.
Thanks. *smile* I have an idea of what I wish to do and how to sell myself. I didn't even know such a job existed until recently. Someone told Mom about it. Every time I had seen things about companions or elder caregivers, they were always either medical or involved transporation, housekeeping etc. So I didn't think it was possible.
I think you could be filling a real niche in your community. There are rehabilitation centers and certified community rehab teachers, but their job is just to teach, and then the older person is on their own after the teaching is done. I think spending time with them and just providing some companionship as well as some Braille training if they are interested and the other helping hands type of services you mentioned is a wonderful idea. However, I really don't know how you could go about getting this type of work other than by word of mouth. You wouldn't be hired by a rehab center to do community work without being certified. One thing you could try is seeing if there is an Assisting Hands franchise near you and look into working for them. I recently saw an article in one of my local papers talking about this service that is spreading around the country. Check out assistinghands.com.
Good luck, and keep us up to date on how your meeting these goals are going. I bet that if you can get a couple people to hire you, word of mouth would really spread and help you get some more jobs.
I have a caregiver who comes in here once a month who takes me to appointments or fills out forms if needed. She charges $20 an hour, so you may want to up your price a little for the niced services you are offering to provide. PM me if I can answer any other qquestions about caregivers.
LibraLady, I really like your suggestion of checking out assistinghands.com. For now, the person who suggested this to Mom might know a few people who would be interested in my services. I'm planning on posting ads to Craigslist and the Greek-American newspapers starting in December, so I can take advantage of the holidays. "Give yourself the gift of freedom this holiday season! Time off for you, and a new and friendly face for your loved one!" That sort of thing.
bea, thank you for sharing your experience. I might charge 10-15 now that I know this. My concern is that, if I charge the same amount as your caregiver, who provides transportation and form-filling, I'll then be competing with others on that level. It would usually make more sense for a family to hire someone who can provide not only my services, but the extra ones as well. So if I lower my prices slightly, they may see it as a discount, if their loved one doesn't need the services requiring vision.
Tiffanitsa, I really don't think I could add much to what has been said. I agree that you seem determined and have really thought this out. Make sure that your personality suits the job. I say this because it can be quite trying on your spirit at times. It really depends on the person you are helping. People get the notion to do this type of care and fail to take this into consideration. Like I said before, these people can become very cantankerous. They often don't feel well; they don't think they need the help; they are embarrassed that they need help; they are often dependent on family members they don't care for or have always relied on themselves and don't want help, etc. Sometimes, you get lucky, though, and get a willing, appreciative client. Of course, the primary caregiver may not make you aware of the person's character, so you could be entering this venture blindfolded, so to speak. Also, be mindful that you are entering someone's home behind closed doors. Be careful. One problem we as blind people have is knowing if someone is going to be honest and trustworthy. You are female and vulnerable. Not only do you need to be careful of the person paying for the service, but often times, if the patient or client is male, they might flirt or worse. I have seen males in this situation grab, pinch, bite, use profanity, and even be more physical. Sometimes, many of these issues will settle down once he or she gets more comfortable with you, but this could go in a negative direction as well. I don't say these things to discourage you. You just need to be informed.
I will add that personality and character of the primary care giver will also come into play. You will find that some care deeply for their loved one and will do anything to insure he or she gets quality care. The PCG may go overboard with this notion, though. If something goes wrong in the house or with the client, you may get blamed when you did nothing or had no control over the situation. Also, their are PCG's who could care less about the person needing assistance, and they are paying you to get the client out of their hands and hair and into yours. You may have questions that don't get answered adequately or at all. You may also find that you are given more duties than what you expected at first. Please understand that I am giving you the worst case scenario, but you need to be cognisent of what can happen.
I will address more specific details as you have them listed.
1. Remember that you cannot administer meds. As you become more relaxed with the family, the client or primary care giver may ask if you can help with this for convenience. Resist. Don't even hand the meds to the patient. This can be more trouble than it is worth in the long run.
2. Remember that even adults in any capacity have a more difficult time learning braille or reading braille because of a lack of fingertip sensitivity. Your clients may have diminished sensitivity because of age and medical conditions. There is adaptive braille available, but it may not be enough, and I am not sure of how readily available it is.
3. I would suggest you stay at the lower end of the pay scale. You are competing with sighted people who can provide services that you cannot. Also, the economy is bad, and I can imagine that people would opt to only hire you for a few hours rather than the entire day to save money. Be open to this idea. You can always adjust what you require for a salary as the economy improves and as you gain experience and confidence in your abilities.
4. It would be prudent to take CPR classes if you are planning to cook. Often times, these people have breathing and or swallowing difficulties, and one never can predict what might happen in your company.
5. Make sure you have reliable transportation. Remember that you are not only considering your promptness, the person hiring you may have an appointment he or she is trying to get to. Being late could mean sink or swim for you in keeping the job.
6. I would suggest that you never run an ad revealing that you are blind. Word of mouth is the best way to go. Promote how you can be an asset as a blind person. You are correct. You can provide a certain type of client what no one else can in way of demonstrating how valuable you can be to a person who might be losing his or her sight or has already lost it. I feel that this is a nich that is not being addressed adequately. The geriatric population is growing by leaps and bounds, and many of these people are blind or visually impaired. There are not enough people in general helping out in this area. People are prejudice and scared of becoming older. It takes a special type of person to work with this group of people.
Really, the types of people I'm seeking are the lonely ones who are housebound, people who just want or need someone to talk to them and keep them company etc. And if I can help them by making them lunch or whatever, that would be great. If I see that someone is completely unwilling to work with me, and if it persists after, say, the third visit, I won't pursue it. I love working with the elderly, but I'm not going to force myself on anyone, and refuse to be mistreated. Having a bad day or needing to nap etc. is fine. We all get like that at times.
I couldn't care less about profanity, and am attracted to older men, so would probably just laugh at the flirting, particularly if it was said in fun. That said, I would never take advantage of anyone, particularly if they're married/in a relationship,, not mentally competent, or in bad physical health. In those cases especially, I would change the subject and would advise the client to not say things like that. If it persisted, of course, I would need to tell the primary caregiver, so as not to get in trouble. Certainly, I would never tolerate things like biting and other aggressive physical contact. If I did get close to someone, again, only provided that he was mentally competent and not attached in any way, I would naturally need to stop being his paid caretaker immediately, and just be a friend. But since I'm going in as a professional, I highly doubt this will happen. Besides, I already have my own sexy senior, whom I've been with a little over five years, and am not looking for anyone else. *smile* Actually, one of my main goals, aside from making money and brightening the days of my clients, is to learn about their lives, how things were in the past, what they think of things in the present etc. One of the reasons why I got a BA in sociology was so that I could document people's experiences. So I may very well turn this into a book, of course changing names, either fully or partially, if requested.
I fully intend on asking a set of questions to each perspective caregiver (or client, if he/she is the one answering the ad), in order to understand the situation. I need to compose such a list, so advice on basic questions would be great. I also intend on explaining what I am willing and able to do, and of sticking to that, unless we both agree to add something new to my list of responsibilities.
I have no intention of administering medication. But if, for example, I can help open a bottle for someone with arthritis, and am told by the family that it's okay to do so, I will do that much. Otherwise, I'll just remind the client that it's time to take the medication and leave it at that. I am aware that certain people lack finger sensitivity, which is why I would test them to see if they can feel shapes etc. We would probably start out with tactile things before moving to braille itself in those cases. I, too, know of jumbo braille, but don't know how practical it would be for someone to learn that, since I really don't know of any books written in it. Still, if they can use it for marking items or writing short notes, it may come in handy. My hours are 10-3 for now. So working for only a few hours with a client is fine.
Tiffanitsa, considering you rarely get out yourself, how can/do you expect to be able to offer these kinds of services to people?
like other posts I've seen of yours, this seems like another dream; all talk, no action behind it. more power to you, though, if that's how you choose to live your life.
Thanks for the wonderful negativity! I guess it never dawned on you that I can be serious about things and actually want to do something in my life. Sorry to burst your bubble but I can and do. In any case, if you have a sincere question, there are ways of asking it without being rude. Perhaps looking up tact and manners would be good for you. I see no reason why I at least can't attempt to do this. I would be working locally, not far out of my way. I would gladly have continued those chair caning classes, and most likely will, but they are far for having to deal with Access Link, and only last three hours. As for my dream of a DOS machine, that will be ready soon. It already has the os loaded onto it and my friend is just working on adding a few extras. I finished my Greek lessons at kypros.org, and now need to find a teacher so that I can become fluent in Dimotiki and learn Katharevousa. But it's certainly not for lack of trying/looking that I can't find one. It's lack of availability and also funds to afford regular prices. As far as moving to Greece, which is my ultimate dream, I don't think I need to explain the economic crisis, which is hitting sighted citizens like a hundred tons of bricks, let alone blind immigrants.
Finding teachers for other crafts is also quite impossible. If you know where they are, by all means, tell me!
call it whatever you want. I call it presenting a realistic perspective that you clearly don't like hearing, as I've said countless times before in other topics, along with other people.
Looks like you have it figured out for the most part.
I lived in Nj for the first 16 years of my life, and their services through the state were crap. I did not get good cane travel lessons, and they always encouraged me to have an aid in school. Surprisingly I learned braille quickly when I was about five. I'm not sure if you would need to be certified in any way to have this job/small business, but we'll see how it goes.
Thanks, not only for the encouragement, but also for explaining how things are in New Jersey. They were that way for me as well.
Tiffanitsa, I am glad you are thinking this area of employment out thoroughly. I am impressed with your idea of writing a book about your experiences. I think that would be a fascinating read. On the thought that you are open to any romantic gestures that might spark up made me take a step back. To each his or her own. I don't judge, and I am one who believes age is just a number. I only wanted to reenforce what you probably already knew about what might occur. I speak from knowledge of real scenarios. As far as helping you with a list of questions, you are on your own for that. I am not sure of the direction you want to take your book and will not be present to witness the goings on of your relationship with your clients be it professional or otherwise. lol I hope for you all the best, and my hat goes off to you. Don't let the words of anyone out here discourage you in any way. AS long as you have the drive to be successful, stay positive and take one step at a time to fulfill your goals.